EOP in the right places in Valley market

Mary Ann Azevedo

Reporter - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal

Equity Office Properties    has had a busy 2011.

The commercial real estate firm has leased out a number of major buildings in Silicon Valley in a flurry of deals to tenants such as Google Inc.   , Symantec Corp.    , Microchip Technology Inc.    , Atmel Corp.    and TeleNav Inc.    , as the Business Journal has covered over the past several months.

In this week’s paper, I report on the company’s 90-acre development pipeline, which positions EOP to further add to its current 11 million square feet under management all over Silicon Valley.

Some of the Valley’s most prime properties are under EOP control, including more than 3.5 million square feet of entitled land in Santa Clara, Mountain View, Milpitas and San Jose.

The region’s brokers consistently cite EOP’s hands-on and experienced management team, emphasis on sustainability — led by EOP senior VP Tom Donoghue — and overall professionalism as reasons for the company’s success and ability to both attract and retain tenants.

Attracting repeat tenants seems in particular to be a strength for EOP.

For example, Big Four accounting firm KPMG LLP   later this year will be relocating from an EOP 135,000-square-foot building at Mountain View Gateway Center to 78,000 square feet at another EOP property, Mission Towers I in Santa Clara.

Steve Horton, a partner with Cassidy Turley, credits EOP with doing a good job of building relationships with tenants over time.

"Because of the size of their portfolio, they can accommodate tenants in growth mode or consolidations," he said. "More so than many other landlords out there."

Market Managing Director John Moe believes Silicon Valley has been experiencing a flight to quality, and EOP has been there to help companies meet expansion or downsizing needs.

"We try to be creative with our tenants, and flexible with them as they grow and shrink," said Ken Young, vice president of Peninsula leasing for EOP.

Mary Ann Azevedo covers real estate for the Business Journal.